2015 Trophee Eric Bompard

Bordeaux, France

Paris Terror Stops
Trophee Bompard - The Pairs short
program was still underway in Bordeaux when terrorists struck in
Paris, killing at least 129 people in different locations. Even
during the Pairs press conference everyone was still unaware of what
was going on in the French capital, about 500 km (350 miles) away,
but then it didn’t take long until skaters, media and officials
learned the terrible news.

Saturday, 14 November 2015

By order of the French Government, all sporting events in France
are cancelled today as a result of the terrorist attacks in Paris
last night that killed at least 127, it was announced here by Peter Krick,
ISU Sports Manager for Figure Skating and Didier Gailhaguet,
president of the French Ice Sport Federation. Both the French
Federation and the ISU had wanted to complete the event, but were
overruled by the French Interior Ministry.

When making the announcement, Krick said that he would recommend to the ISU council that the
results after the Short Program count as the final standings for
Grand Prix Final qualification. The issue of point based tie
breakers will be decided at a future time.

After the noon meeting, the ISU released the following statement.

The Minister of the
Interior Affairs of France, Bernard Cazeneuve, and the Mayor of
Bordeaux, Alain Juppe, have informed the French Figure Skating
Federation (FFSG) that the competition at the ISU Grand Prix of
Figure Skating event "Trophee Eric Bompard 2015" in Bordeaux has to
be cancelled due to the state of emergency and national mourning
days in France.

The International Skating Union and the French
Figure Skating Federation express their deepest sympathy to the
victims of the despicable terrorist attacks in Paris on November 13.

We expected enhanced security at the arena today, and walking
around Bordeaux this morning we noticed bag checks have been
instituted at the local shopping mall. As we arrived, skaters
and officials were streaming out of the building having just been
notified at the above described meeting that the event was cancelled,
while several dozen fans sat on the front steps unable to enter the
building.

Early this morning (Colorado Springs time) U.S.
Figure Skating released the following statement
concerning Trophee Bompard.

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colorado (Nov. 14, 2015) –
U.S. Figure Skating is deeply saddened by Friday’s
tragic events in Paris. Our thoughts and deepest
sympathies are with the victims, their families and the
people of France.

We fully support the decision of French authorities to
cancel the remaining portion of the 2015 Trophée Bompard
event in Bordeaux, France.

U.S. Figure Skating is working with the ISU, the French
Federation of Ice Sports and local authorities to ensure
the quick and safe return of Team USA.

Friday, 13 November 2015

Will history repeat itself for Elizaveta Tuktamysheva at
Trophee Eric Bompard? As at Skate Canada she stumbled
badly in the Short Program, falling on triple Axel, and
triple Lutz, and with turns in the middle of her triple
triple - triple toe loop. Nevertheless, as at Skate
Canada, she has the opportunity to move up several places.
Can she move up enough to make the final?

Gracie Gold outclassed the field here, and a win (or even
a second place) will secure her a place in the final.
it was a commanding clean skate in the short for Gold.

Roberta Rodeghiero (ITA) skated a clean short and lies in
third place, with 58.81 points. At least five other
ladies, however, are within striking distance of the bronze
medal.

Estimated Attendance: 500

Like Tuktamysheva, Patrick Chan bought his Skate Canada
short program woes to Trophee Eric Bompard. Chan
popped his opening combination to double toe loop - double
toe loop, which earned zero points. He also had a hand
down on triple Axel, but scored big time in components with
an average component mark of 8.8. He is off the podium
at this point by about 4 points, and easy point differential
to make up with a strong long. He needs to finish at
least third to secure a place in the final on his own merits
(without waiting to see how the next two Grand Prixs pan
out).

Shoma Uno dazzled again, as he did at Skate America.
He landed quad toe loop and had component scores in the low
eights.

Maxim Kovtun skated better than we would have expected
from his first two practice. He landed quad Salchow -
triple toe loop and quad toe loop, though both with hands
down on the landings. His component scores were in the
low eights for his dynamic performance to "I Can't Dance,"
though from the looks of it apparently he can, and really
well!

Daisuke Murakami landed quad Slachow, with four judges
marking it down. On his combination he singled the
second jump, which then became worthless, this being the
short program.

Estimated Attendance: 750

The Pairs Short Program consisted of Tatiana Volosozhar &
Maxim Trankov and then by everybody else. The Olympic gold
medalists opened up a nearly nine point lead with their
Bollywood program. Behind them six teams have 62.32 to
65.75 points, so just about any podium result is possible,
except we are pretty sure the Austrian couple won't be on
the podium.

During the practices we had doubts about
the level of training of Trankov, but he put those doubts to
rest, in the Short Program at least, getting through the
whole program without difficulty. Nevertheless, if we
are allowed some nit picking, we did feel at several times
in the program he was waiting for Volosozhar to do something
rather then doing something himself; that is, in a few
places Voloosozhar was carrying more of the burden executing
transition.

The current leaders after the
Russians are Vanessa James & Morgan Cipres (FRA) and
Julianne Seguin & Charlie Bilodeau (CAN). The French
team had the sexiest routine skating to "I Put a Spell on
You," and the Canadian team had the liveliest routine to
"Monde Inverse" (music from Cirque do Soliel). The
Canadian couple, in their first year in seniors, has an
outside chance to make the final if they place second or
third, though probably will need some help in the split
among the pairs results in the last two Grand Prixs.

Six of the eight teams earned
season personal bests in the short program.

Estimated Attendance: 700

The Short Dance resulted in a grouping of the top four from
64.45 points from the American couple Madison Hubbell &
Zachary Donohue through Penny Coomes & Nicholas Buckland
(GBR) with 58.34 points. Each team is hungry to place
as high as possible here (or should be) if they want to
reach the final, as these teams are fighting for the fifth
and sixth entries in the final, which will probably not be
decided until the end of the series.

Hubbell & Donehue gave a passionate
performance to "Halleluiah," and earned component marks that
averaged near 8. Gilles & Poirier's LSD fueled "time
trip" was as enjoyable here as it was two weeks ago at Skate
America. Both their technical and component scored
moved up slightly over Skate America. Alexandra
Stepanova & Ivan Bukin sit in third, 3.3 points behind the
Canadians.

For the dance couples, every place is
really going to count when it comes to making the final.
Since Coomes & Buckland were assigned only one Grand Prix
this season (having missed the previous season) they could
well act as spoilers if they move up in the standing and
deprive one of the top three teams two precious points.

Estimated Attendance: 600

Notes from the morning practices:

Morning practice began with the ladies. Elizaveta
Tuktamysheva again "won" the practice; that is, looked the strongest
and most consistent. She landed two triple Axels and was solid
in her triple triple with arms over the head. Gracie Gold gave
her a run for it though with a strong practice of her own, but
Tuktamysheva has the technical edge on jump points. Julia
Lipnitskaia skated well and looks improved since Skate America.
Kanako Murakami looked more together than yesterday, but her triples
were not all working today, particularly struggling with the
triple-triple. Angela Wang also had a better practice than
yesterday, landing her triples, but she still looked slow and heavy
in her run through.

Next year Bompard will be back in Paris. The Grand Prix
Final will be held in Marseilles.

The top three in the dance practice today, in our opinion, were
again Stepanova &
Bukin, Hubbell & Donohue and Gilles & Poirier. Coomes
& Buckland (GBR) also have high hopes here, in their first Grand
Prix of the season, after missing last season due to illness, and
had a strong run through. All four couples look prepared, and
are capable of producing scores near 160 points and above, so we
anticipate this will be a close competition.

Patrick Chan had a strong practice and was the only one who
looked secure in the whole package. Since Skate Canada he has added
four seconds to the short program, two after his opening quad-triple
combination and two after triple Lutz (element 4). He said
yesterday, though only a small change to the length of the program,
it greatly reduced the pressure he felt staying on time in the
program.

Daisuke Murakami landed quad Salchow cleanly in his run through
and was generally cleaner throughout the practice than yesterday.
Shoma Uno had perhaps the second cleanest practice among the men.
Max Aaron struggled with his jumps, but generally held on to them,
but it wasn't pretty. Denis Ten landed his quad toe loop and
triple Axel, but looked a bit tentative throughout the practice.
He is the big wildcard for the competition. Maxim Kovtun was
inconsistent throughout the practice, as he was yesterday.
Choreographically, however, his short program made a better
impression than the long.

Like yesterday, Castelli & Tran showed off good elements, except
for their side-by-side jumps -- their Achilles heel. Sequin &
Bilodeau attacked their practice and skated securely.
Volosozhar & Trankov skated well, when they were skating.
Trankov looks like he has no stamina. They worked the "in
between" of their program more than anything else. Tarasova &
Morozov struggled through their practice, and he looked
annoyed with the way their practice went. Peng & Zhang skated
well throughout the practice. Their run through was cleanly
skated, though with the lifts walked through. Overall,
however, they seemed slow, with their program not as
choreographically sophisticated as needed today.

Thursday, 12 November 2015

Today is the day of practice.

Denis Ten (KAZ) was not on the flight organizers expected him to arrive
on yesterday, but he has not withdrawn, and may still complete.
Men are first up to practice today, and we will soon know the
answer.

An hour later, and the answer is Ten is here for the practice. Ten did not
skate well at Skate America due to injury and earned no points for
the final. He cannot earn enough points here to reach the
final as even a first place, worth 15 points, does not reach the
22-24 points skaters who reach the final typically need to earn.
He can, however, act as a spoiler if he places well enough here,
affecting the chances of Shoma Uno (JPN) and Jason Brown (USA) of
reaching the final.

World Champions Gabriella Papadakis & Guillaume Cizeron (FRA)
have withdrawn from the competition, leaving seven in the Dance
event. The couple is next schedule to compete at NHK, but with
only one event, cannot earn enough points to make the final.
This will make it likely one more Russian dance couple will make it
into the final (based on projections for series final point totals)

Florent Amodio (FRA) also withdrew from the competition last
month after the deadline for substitutions, leaving 11 in the Men's
event.

Who Won the Practices?

Tomorrow competition begins, and it is the performances there
that count, but in practice today we got a hint of the condition of
the competitors. Our general impressions on the state of their
training follows.

Patrick Chan (CAN) looked the strongest of the men showing both
his athletic and artistic side. Max Aaron (USA), not
surprisingly, looked strong athletically running through his "Swan
Lake" program but lagged several other skaters here on the artistic
side. Shoma Uno (JPN) and Daisuke Murakami (JPN) had decent
practices, and we would rank them next for the day. Denis Ten
looked stronger than at Skate America but is still not near his peak
form. Maxim Kovtun (RUS) put a lot of dedication into his run
through and general practice, but his jumps were a mess. This
is his first of two Grand Prixs and he did not impress. For
me, his choreography to various Beethoven pieces bordered on parody
in places, with the music overwhelming him for much of the program.

The loss of the French couple has a lot of competitors in the
dance event thinking they are going to pick up some easy points now.
The top three in the dance practice from our view were Stepanova &
Bukin (RUS), Hubbell & Donohue (USA) and Gilles & Poirier (CAN).
The extra points they will earn here increases the chances Stepanova
& Bukin can make the final. Gilles & Poirier, however, need at
least a second place finish to have a reasonable chance of reaching
the final. Hubbell & Donohue will have tough competition in
their second Grand Prix, so a win here is nearly a necessity for
them to have a realistic chance of reaching the final.

Wish we could tell you about the pairs practice, but we were in a
Patrick Chan press scrum and missed the top teams. Castelli &
Tran (USA) had a decent practice, but they did not show off their
side-by-side jumps which is their biggest problem area.

The Ladies event has the important match up of Elizaveta
Tuktamysheva (RUS) and Gracie Gold (USA), both of whom place second
in their first Grand Prix, giving each one 13 points. "King
Tut" ruled the practice with power and confidence. Gold skated
strongly but we see Tuktamysheva in control of this event.
Kanako Murakami (JPN) who placed fourth at Skate Canada looked tired
and worn out. Given the results in their first events it
should be an interesting fight here between Murakami, Gabrielle
Daleman (CAN) and Julia Lipnitskaia (RUS). Angela Wang
(USA) looked slow and tired. Both American ladies are fighting
nine hours of jetlag.